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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674625">Divination</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unhuman_feeling/pseuds/Unhuman_feeling'>Unhuman_feeling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fall Out Boy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Authority, Brainwashing, Control, Cult, Drug Use, M/M, Manipulation, Patrick's in a Cult, Pete is hard on his luck, This is probably going to be all kinds of fucked up, power, salads are a thing, sect, weird religion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 18:01:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22674625</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unhuman_feeling/pseuds/Unhuman_feeling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pete had never felt more lost in his life. He'd dropped college, and his soccer scholarship, and instead of finding a perfect life of music on the other side, he was stuck in a dead-end job where he wasn't making enough to get by.<br/>He was exactly the type of person that Patrick had been told to give his water bottles to.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter the First</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Fun fact about me: When I did the career aptitude test in high school, my number one result was "religious leader".</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Pete would never admit that he’d made the wrong decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been about a month now, since he’d dropped his college degree. For the most part, the lack of college was probably the best thing that had come out of his. He’d gotten in on a soccer scholarship, which was something that he was fairly good at, but it certainly wasn’t where his passion was. Topping that with a course load that he absolutely despised, it made sense for him to leave the environment that he’d found himself in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The struggle was what came next. His best friend Joe had an apartment, not too far from the grocery store that he’d managed to get a job at, and they were making enough money to cover the rent, sort-of. The apartment was old, and starting to show it’s age, and a lot of the time they were having sleep for dinner, but they had a roof over their heads and a place to play their music. So it really wasn’t all that bad, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His parents still weren’t talking to him, and customer service was really starting to wear on him, but he was starting to write again and on top of that, was starting to form some connections with other musicians. So it was working out. Definitely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fact that their microwave had broken the other day and they didn’t have the money to replace it spoke otherwise, but Pete and Joe were fine. Positive mindset was the very best way to get through this, and it wouldn’t be too long until they had an album out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were always a few buskers outside the grocery store where Pete worked. The clarinet girl always annoyed him, but the rest of them were fairly good. When he spent 8 hours a day packing groceries into people’s bags, a little bit of music flowing into the store always made the day go by a little bit faster. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The spot outside was usually taken by one of the regulars, but today there was a newcomer. Pete could only see the back of his head through the window into the store, but the music that this kid was singing was </span>
  <em>
    <span>beautiful</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’d set up with a small stool and an acoustic guitar, and had had a crowd around for </span>
  <em>
    <span>hours. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Normally people did their best to ignore their buskers, but this kid was definitely not something to walk past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete didn’t know his songs either, and that probably meant that they were originals. Pete’s supervisor had to snap her fingers in front of his face a couple of times, to draw his attention to the groceries that he was meant to be bagging.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully, the kid was still around when Pete finished work. The crowd was starting to fade as the sun started to set, and Pete was glad to have caught him while he was still playing. He found himself a spot at the back of the group, and listened with a smile on his face until the kid reached the end of the song.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good. From the guitar, to his singing voice, to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>emotion </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he was somehow pouring into these lyrics, Pete was almost in awe. How was someone </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>amazing, standing outside a grocery store in a lower part of town?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he finished the song, the small group took their turns putting a bit of cash into his guitar case, and then continuing on with their day. Pete slowly shuffled to the front, and offered a smile at the kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing, </span>
  </em>
  <span>my dude!” Pete could hardly find the words. “You’re so great! What on earth are you doing playing here? You could be playing literally anywhere else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you!” The kid grinned. “I’m not sure. It seemed like a nice place to play, and I think people at your store liked it too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Pete.” Pete offered. “I’d give you some change, but I don’t have any on me, unfortunately. But I work inside and I just wanted to let you know that I think you’re really good. Do you have a Spotify or a soundcloud or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“None of that stuff, but thank you! I’m Patrick, by the way. Do you want some water?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kid reached behind his guitar case, and pulled out a bottle of water. Pete didn’t recognise the branding on it, which was strange considering that he worked in a grocery store. Patrick passed it over, and Pete examined the strange black labelling. There weren’t any words or anything on it, just a white circle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, thanks?” Pete responded uncertainly. “Water?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” The kid grinned. “People get thirsty sometimes, so I always have some.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Pete tucked it into his bag. “Anyway, I just wanted to say that I love your music. I’m, uh, I’m a bass player myself, so yeah. You’re really cool. Will you be back here or are you going to find somewhere else to play?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just go where I’m needed.” Patrick responded, folding his stool up. “But today was a lot of fun. I’ll probably be back. Thank you for coming out and talking to me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, no worries dude. I guess I’ll see you around then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Patrick smiled up at him. “I guess I will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete didn’t put too much thought into it on the way home. He certainly was a good singer, and Pete had no doubt that he’d be successful in the local scene if he stuck with it. He was almost surprised that he hadn’t heard of him before, the music scene around here was pretty tight-knit and Pete knew most of the regulars.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t put too much thought into the water, until he got home. It was nice of the kid, to have some water to give to people who might need some. Pete had put it in the fridge when he’d arrived home, planning to take it to work tomorrow, but it seemed his roommate had gotten to it first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete! What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> is this?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Pete glanced up from the TV. “What- Is that my water?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe spat it into the sink. “It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>salty</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? I got it from some busker at work today. It shouldn’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>salty.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Here. Come try this shit.” Joe passed the bottle over. “And don’t try to </span>
  <em>
    <span>poison </span>
  </em>
  <span>me like that again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete rolled his eyes at that, but took a small sip. Sure, it had a little bit of a salty undertone, but it was very slight. Unless Joe had said something, then Pete probably wouldn’t have noticed it. But it was nice and cold from being in the fridge, so he drank the rest of the bottle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>crazy, </span>
  </em>
  <span>man.” Joe muttered. “You don’t even know what’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>in</span>
  </em>
  <span> that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s probably fine.” Pete shrugged. “I liked it. Stop being such a </span>
  <em>
    <span>baby.</span>
  </em>
  <span> A little salt isn’t going to kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe just swished some tap water around in his mouth to get rid of the taste, and went back to his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was another 3 days before Patrick and his guitar were back in front of the grocery store. This was the Thursday that Pete was working a half-day, so when he finished up in the morning, he went to stand outside with the rest of the crowd to listen to the kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete had missed him. His music was really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good, and it really made his shifts so much better. He stood and listened for a few songs, before Patrick smiled up at his adoring crowd and announced that he was finished for today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were a couple of people who asked for an encore, but most smiled and dropped some money into his guitar case. Pete was astounded at how much this kid was earning. It was more than he normally earned in a week.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete! You’re back!” He was snapped from his haze by the kid, who grinned up at him. “It’s so good to see you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you too.” Pete smiled back. “You’re heading home now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Patrick shrugged. “I was just going to go for a walk. Do you want to come?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For a walk?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Patrick grinned at him. “There’s a really nice park just down the way, with a forest and a creek and all sorts of lovely stuff. Do you want to come? We could get some lunch or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’d like that, actually.” Pete agreed. “What do you want to do with all your stuff?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick stuffed a $20 bill into his pocket from the guitar case, and then shrugged. “It’s probably fine to just stay here. You’ll have to come back to work, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, no, I’m finished for today. But you definitely can’t leave your stuff here, dude. It’ll get stolen. This isn’t a great part of town.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick frowned. “People aren’t as bad as you’re saying, Pete. It was still here when I had a break the other day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I was here.” Pete quickly told him. “And I chased like, 5 people away. Here, we can put it all in my car until we come back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah! Thanks!” Patrick beamed, collecting his bits and pieces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete offered to drive them to the park that Patrick was talking about, but Patrick was dead-set on walking. More than that, he was dead-set on bringing his case of water bottles with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We won’t be too long, dude.” Pete had tried to convince.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“People get thirsty.” was Patrick’s defence. “And that’s why I’m here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The area was nice. Despite being lunchtime, it wasn’t too hot, and the walk was actually really nice. Patrick handed out most of his water bottles in the first 10 minutes, and once his hands were empty, led Pete down a beaten path to the edge of the creek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I like it here.” Patrick broke the silence, sitting down on a nice patch of grass. “It’s peaceful. There’s none of that city smog or anything, it’s just pure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmmm.” Pete sat down beside him. “I guess so, if that’s your thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want some water?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, sure. Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No worries!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete took a sip, and let it swish around in his mouth. It had the same salty aftertaste as the other bottle. There were no ingredients listed on the bottle, nor was there any barcode or anything along those lines. Nobody sold these bottles, they were made specifically for the purpose of being handed out from people like Patrick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The water is really nice of you.” Pete took another sip. “Why do you hand out the bottles though? Surely they’re expensive, and they’re heavy when you have a lot of them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“People get thirsty.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you keep saying that, but nobody just like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>does </span>
  </em>
  <span>that. Like, charities might hand out water, but they normally put their logo or something on the bottle. Like, the only people who give water to thirsty people are the government people who put in drinking taps.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess I do, then.” Patrick laughed, laying back on the grassy hill. “Tell me about yourself, Pete. What’s your essence?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Essence?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmm.” Patrick nodded. “Who you are at your core. What you’re here to do, what you’re meant to be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete almost laughed at that. “I think I’m just meant to be a failure at this point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was meant to be a joke, but it seemed to concern the weird water kid, who frowned at him. “Why do you say that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, well, I was in college, and then I dropped out because I hated it, and my parents just </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate </span>
  </em>
  <span>me.” Pete told him, laughing a little bit to try and alleviate the awkwardness. “So now I’m just working like, below minimum wage, living in an apartment that’s falling apart, and I can’t seem to find anyone who wants to be in a band with me so I guess my music dream is failing too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick thought about it. “That’s not failing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, my microwave broke last week, and my roommate and I are going to have to save for like, a whole month in order to replace it. We have </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>money, dude.” Pete rubbed the back of his neck shyly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why on earth was he opening up to this literal stranger? Sure, they were sitting by the side of a creek, but it didn’t make this kid anymore trustworthy than if he was just a kid sitting on the side of the road. They didn’t know anything about each other, other than the fact that he played guitar and handed out weird water bottles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t replace it!” Patrick quickly blurted out, sitting up. “Please, don’t!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete frowned. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Microwaves, are, the worst thing you can do to food!” Patrick almost pleaded with him. “They suck all the nutrients out, they leech the chemicals from the plastic into what you’re eating, they just, and not even to mention the radiation and all the side effects of-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay, I get it.” Pete put his hand over the kid’s mouth. “Microwaves aren’t the best.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Patrick told him sternly, pushing Pete’s hand away. “They, they suck all the good out of the food you eat, and poison you in the process. It doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>feed </span>
  </em>
  <span>you, it just leaves you with vaguely tasting </span>
  <em>
    <span>slop </span>
  </em>
  <span>and it just leaves you less fulfilled than before you’d even eaten.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Pete frowned. Sure, microwaved food wasn’t as great as fresh food, but it certainly wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>bad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Promise </span>
  </em>
  <span>me you won’t get another microwave.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Promise me, Pete!” Patrick demanded, getting to his feet. “Promise me that you won’t replace it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh…” </span>
  <em>
    <span>what? What on earth was this kid’s deal? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Yeah, okay. I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sigh of relief that came from Patrick after that was almost comical. “Okay. Thank you, Pete. I’m sorry that I get involved, but, well, y’know, I don’t like to see people get hurt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s all good, man.” Pete assured. “I… guess I appreciate the concern. I haven’t really had anyone looking out for me since I moved out of college.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I understand what it’s like to feel lost.” Patrick told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It can be difficult. So many lose their essence, find no purpose. I won’t let you fall.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was weirdly comforting. His parents might not believe in his music dream, and Joe’s belief in him was waning too. It was nice to have someone say that they were in his court. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, dude.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He took Patrick out for coffee after that. The creek was nice, but coffee was better, and Pete loved sitting at his little coffeehouse. He liked to write here, too, when he had the time off work. He ordered for himself, and then watched his new friend intently studying the menu.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you normally drink?” Pete offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Water.” Patrick mumbled, squinting at the menu. “I don’t drink…. This.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay…. Do you drink </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>other than water? Like I could get you a milkshake, or a smoothie or a juice or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Juice!” Patrick’s face lit up at that. “Juice please.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete ordered, and they took a seat at a nice table down the back. Pete studied his friend’s face for a moment. “Can I ask you some questions?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick shrugged. “Sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you’re not a charity, and you’re not selling the water, then where do you get it?” Pete pushed. “And why is it salty?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick smiled. “There’s not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of salt in it. It’s a miniscule, tiny amount. But it’s for clarity. Sodium has been used for years to help ground people, help them connect to the earth. Keep you grounded, you know? It makes it a lot easier to think clearly. And it’s not like, table salt or anything like that. It’s good salt. Himalayan. It’s really, really good for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you’re like, a health nut, then?” Pete raised an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick shrugged. “I guess I was just raised to eat what I can grow myself. Stay natural. My family grows a lot of our own food, and we have chickens and some other animals too. It’s really nice, when everyone can put in and we all benefit from it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right.” Pete smiled at the waiter as their drinks arrived. Patrick spent a while looking at his, and quickly removed the paper straw. Pete watched, almost in horror, as he picked up the salt shaker and quickly added a considerable amount to otherwise completely-fine juice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You like your salt, then?” Pete wrinkled his nose up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Clarity.” Patrick repeated, still focused as he stirred the drink with his finger. “Oh, it’s good!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad.” Pete responded unsurely, taking a sip of his coffee and being very glad that there wasn’t any salt in it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Salt was okay on things like fries and burgers, but in a juice? In water? On literally everything? That probably wasn’t as good for you as Patrick was trying to make it out to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What were we talking about? Oh yeah! The water!” Patrick snapped back to the conversation. “We hand it out. People get thirsty, and because it works for us, we just want to share how the water can help people. Did you drink yesterday’s bottle?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Most of it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See! And today you’re clearer, your skin is less oily, and you seemed a bit better at work today, compared to the other day. It’s just, well, it works. So I hand it out, because the more people it can help, the better our world is going to be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” Pete thought about it, and took another sip of his coffee. He had been feeling surprisingly good this morning, and Patrick didn’t seem the kind of guy to lie about how oily Pete’s skin was. He’d drink the other bottle too once he’d finished his coffee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, the kid was a little weird, and his health shit was a bit weird too, but it was pretty harmless. Plus, it seemed to be working. Pete hadn’t seen anyone this happy to be alive since he was in elementary school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, is this like a religious thing, or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No. Just, well, my family and I just live in the way that we do. It’s just to help others, and help us be healthy. I don’t think there’s anything religious about that, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope.” Pete smiled. “It’s interesting. I haven’t heard of it. Is it like a diet or a lifestyle or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick just shrugged. “I’ll have to take you to meet my Dad. He’s, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good at what he does, and he knows all about this stuff. He lives back at the big house though, with everyone else. Me and a few of my siblings are living at the city house, so we can hand out water and stuff. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, but I guess we’ll see.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, now this was sounding a bit weird. “Your parents aren’t into polyamory or anything, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What? No, no. We just have a big extended family. You’d actually really like it. It’s like a big community, and there’s always someone to talk to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete cooked dinner for him and Joe that night. No microwave, or anything like that. He even went out of his way to include a </span>
  <em>
    <span>vegetable. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Joe was surprised to come home from work and find Pete in the kitchen, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the special occasion?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing.” Pete shrugged. “There were just some specials on at work, and since we don’t have a microwave, I thought I might just try something.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe nodded, taking his coat off and grabbing some bowls to dish up dinner. “Is that more of the salt water shit?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit, </span>
  </em>
  <span>it’s actually okay once you get past the first sip.” Pete defended. “I saw my busker friend again today. He’s really cool. We went for coffee.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coffee?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! It was nice! He’s a bit of a weird guy, but the water is like, healthy shit and I guess now that I have to be a functional adult, I should try and be a little more healthy, yeah?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe snorted. “Since when do you care about that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno man. I’ve felt really good for the past few days.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s probably a placebo. Don’t let this kid get you into his weird health shit. He probably wants to recruit you to some pyramid scheme or some shit like that. You don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete just shrugged, and added an extra packet of salt to his dinner.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. An Acceptable Level of Weird</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Pete would have thought Patrick was a puppy considering how much he loved to go for walks around the city. But Pete certainly wasn’t complaining, he finally had a friend to spend time with outside of work and Joe, and Patrick was turning out to actually be a really great friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’d be really proud of me.” Pete grinned as they set off down the footpath. “Last night I actually like, cooked for once. And I used a </span>
  <em>
    <span>vegetable</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And it actually turned out! My roommate and I haven’t really eaten well in like, forever.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick laughed. “That’s so good, Pete! I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>proud! I was thinking you seemed happier today, but I couldn’t place why until now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete blushed a little bit. “Thank you for like, helping me with this stuff. I mean, surely there’s better people who need your help, right? More than just a dumbass dropout.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d meant it as a slightly self-depricating joke, but Patrick stopped dead in his tracks and turned to his new friend. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Don’t.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Talk about yourself like that!” Patrick was genuinely upset by it, which made Pete slightly uncomfortable. It was just a thing that most people laughed about these days. “You’re not either of those things, and I will </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>stand for that talk.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude, it was a </span>
  <em>
    <span>joke.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Pete laughed, awkwardly. “And I mean, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>dropout, so that’s not a lie, but y’know, it’s not serious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Every joke is based in truth.” Patrick told him sternly, taking his hand. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God, why was his skin so soft? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“And it’s not okay. You changed paths, but that’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>brilliant </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing to have done, Pete. You were pushed onto the wrong path by people who had different views of you and you took a step back from them and decided to follow your </span>
  <em>
    <span>own</span>
  </em>
  <span> voice. Find </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>purpose. And you are the only person in the world who can find that. It takes a lot of bravery to do that in this world, so that’s what you are, Pete. You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>brave</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And passionate and smart and clever and so many other brilliant things. You might feel lost, but you had the courage to get there in the first place. That’s why I’m here with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” was all Pete could manage. “T-Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick turned back to the path, and kept on towards the park. Pete didn’t argue, but he did notice that Patrick was still holding his hand. More than that, he was swinging their hands back and forth as they walked. Pete was a bit self-concious that his hand might be a bit sweaty, but that didn’t seem to worry his friend, who was perfectly content with the extra contact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s stupid, isn’t it?” He remarked after a few seconds of silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fact that this culture shames us out of touching each other. Touch is such a basic human instinct, it connects us, helps us build relationships. Touch is so important, and yet it’s just seen as a thing that we should avoid doing unless it’s with a specific person. But touch brings so much love and joy and helps people connect with each other. It even just </span>
  <em>
    <span>feels </span>
  </em>
  <span>right, you know? It connects us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I guess so.” Patrick’s hand </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>feel very nice in his own, but he really wasn’t used to this touch outside of relationships. But regardless of whether or not he was in a relationship or not, it was still nice to have that connection. Joe had given him a bit of a weird look when Pete tried to sit close to him on the couch after his last breakup.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s just so much stuff going backward these days.” Patrick sighed, before smiling up at Pete. “But that’s the thing, we don’t have to succumb to that. We just need to find what feels right, what makes us happiest, and what brings us joy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete nodded. He supposed it was true. Holding hands with Patrick on this walk, eating food that was better for him, being more involved in the everyday - it was making him happier. It had only been a week and yet this kid was mananging to help him completely turn his outlook on life around. And it really hadn’t been a difficult change at all, just a little bit more time cooking fresh food, and making sure that he was getting out of the apartment and back to nature.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete hardly noticed the taste of the salt in the water now, and was grateful when Patrick handed him a bottle. It was quiet, down at the water today, and they could sit together on the bench and listen to the wildlife. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you’re really strong, Pete.” Patrick told him eventually. “I think everything is really going to work out for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick nodded. “You have the right aura. You might not know what your purpose is right now, but I can tell that you’re on the path to finding it. It won’t take you long. You have the determination, and especially now that you have the tools. You’re going to do </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing </span>
  </em>
  <span>things in this life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a weird compliment, but Pete took it with a smile. “Thanks.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Joe still thought that Patrick was some sort of fucking scammer, and he told Pete that. He told Pete that Patrick was probably just grooming him to be pushed into some pyramid scheme, or to start peddling some weird hippie health products, and it was likely to all be an act that was designed to rope Pete in and never let him go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Joe didn’t know Patrick, Pete told himself. And Pete had found that everything Patrick had been telling him came from the basis of one thing - love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was about having love for the planet, and respecting nature, to having love for yourself and only putting good things into your body. It was about loving the people around you in the streets, offering to help them with whatever way you can, and giving them things to help them to find the love as well. It was about love for your family, and working together, and even having love for the people who you felt wronged you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was such a stark difference to the world around him, and Pete couldn’t get enough. He could feel the love just </span>
  <em>
    <span>radiating </span>
  </em>
  <span>from his new friend, and wanted it so badly for himself. He’d been so starved of it since he left for college.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Love was why Patrick played his music. He didn’t ask for money, or really even expect any from the people who listened. He went where he felt that he could spread the most love, and would share that with as many people he could. And he shared the water, too, to help as many people as he could to think a little bit clearer and ground themselves back to earth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still spoke a lot of weird stuff, Pete couldn’t deny that. Patrick would talk about all sorts of weird things, a lot of it either regarding how great salt was for the body and the earth, or about the dangers of household radiation and how it was affecting people. Pete thought a lot of it was bat-shit crazy, but he also knew that it probably did have some grounds in truth. After all, Patrick was living his life without all the awful things he talked to Pete about, and he was the happiest person that Pete had ever known.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d started incorperating some of Patrick’s advice, and if Pete was honest with himself, he hadn’t felt better in a really long time. Sure, eating vegetables tasted awful, but it filled him. He didn’t feel lazy and sluggish after he ate, he felt energised, and empowered to write and make music and all sorts of things that mattered to him. He made more effort at work, and his boss had even mentioned to him that he might be up for a promotion to supervisor if he kept it up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed Patrick was onto something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something that Patrick spoke a lot about was family. He talked about it in such a happy way in regards to his large extended family back from wherever he came from, and Pete was almost jealous. HIs parents were still together, but they weren’t the happiest in their marriage, and his life at home was one where tensions were constantly running high. It didn’t help that Pete was a problem child, as well, and now wore his badge as the ‘family disappointment’.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there was something today about Patrick talking about how amazing it was to grow up in a big family of brothers and sisters and cousins, and all the great relationships he had, that made him want to mend his own family problems. He opened his phone, and his Mom’s contact, and then stared at it for a minute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last time he’d called, it was to tell his parents that he was dropping out. To tell them that despite the fact that they had all worked so hard to get him this soccer scholarship, and to get him into a realy good school, he didn’t like it and felt that he needed to drop out so that he could go and pursue his own dreams. His own </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> lucrative dreams that didn’t have a very high chance of success.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His Mom had cried. His Dad had told him that he was throwing his life away, and he was disappointing the entire Wentz family name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They hadn’t asked about where he was going, or what he was going to do now, but Pete certainly didn’t feel right going back to their place after that. So he’d called Joe, called in a favour with a friend who worked at a grocery store, and found himself in this predicament.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t even know what to say to his parents now. He had planned to call them again once he’d finally had a show booked, or had an album coming out, or just </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>to say that he was doing okay and his plan hadn’t completely doomed him. But then again, he’d been out of college for over two months now, and he had expected to have already achieved those things by now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete took a deep breath. He could do this. They were his </span>
  <em>
    <span>parents.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The phone rang a few times, before eventually going to voicemail. Pete took a deep breath. “Hey, Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier. I just rang to let you know I’m okay. I have a place and a job and I’m eating well and making friends and all that. I’m still working on music but, but it’s coming along. I just, I called to let you know that I love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He paused and choked up slightly, before quickly trying to push it away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve met somebody who really, just, puts everything in perspective, y’know? And family is the most important thing in the world. I know you’re probably still mad at me, but I love you so, so much. I’d love to see you again when you get a chance. Please call me back, Mom. Or Dad, too. I love you both. I guess I’ll see you soon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hoped his Mom still checked his voicemails.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pete had offered to take Patrick for lunch a couple of times. The kid almost always managed to avoid the question, or somehow work his way out of it. They’d been for coffee and juice a couple of times, but most of the the time, Patrick just prefered to walk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seemed to be easier that way. At least then Pete didn’t have to question Patrick adding more and more salt to his juice. It wasn’t just the one he ordered for him the first time, Patrick added salt to </span>
  <em>
    <span>every single drink. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And not just a little bit, either. He’d gotten quite a few strange looks the last time they’d been in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t seem to phase him. Patrick just did his own thing. He held hands with people (</span>
  <em>
    <span>especially </span>
  </em>
  <span>Pete), he handed out water bottles to anyone who was willing to take one, and he played music in a couple of different places when he felt that it was appropriate. But Pete was starting to notice a few other things that he did that were a little bit strange. He didn’t look for cars when crossing the road, and Pete had saved him from a near-miss about 3 times now. He never </span>
  <em>
    <span>bought </span>
  </em>
  <span>anything (instead would hand Pete some cash and ask him to perform the transaction), and he was always trying to direct the conversation away from himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But today seemed to be the end of that. They’d gone for juice and coffee again, and Patrick had Pete telling him about his family life. It wasn’t that Pete hated talking about his family, but it definitely felt weird that they hadn’t talked in a few months.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I left them a voicemail a few days ago.” He admitted. “I told them I loved them, but they haven’t called me back or anything. Not even a message. They might just need a bit more time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did the right thing.” Patrick reassured him, holding his hand comfortingly. “And if they don’t respond, then that’s not your problem. You’re moving on and finding the best place in the world for </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If they aren’t going to support you in that, then they aren’t the people that you want to have in your life.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Pete mumbled. “It’s just, I want them in my life, y’know? They raised me, and I still really love them. And family is just, so important to have. You’re always talking about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick thought about it for a minute, before smiling. “Do you want to come and meet my family?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your family?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Patrick grinned. “You can come for dinner tonight, if you’d like. I’ll introduce you to a few of them. The house isn’t a very far walk from here, and I can show you what real food tastes like!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, yeah!” Pete smiled. “So it’ll just be, your siblings?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick nodded. “My Dad fostered a lot of kids when I was younger, so they don’t look like me, but we grew up together. There’s my 2 brothers, my sister and then my sister’s wife and my brother’s wife too. They’re all really lovely, and the house is nice too. You’ll really like it. And they’d love to meet you, too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Pete asked uncertainly. He wondered if they were all like Patrick, handing out water, following weird health stuff, or if they were a little bit more normal. He supposed he’d have to wait and see. Plus, he might actually see Patrick eat something. At this point, his best guess with this weird kid was that he was some kind of alien that lived off salt and fruit juice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Patrick excitement was showing through now. “I’ll meet you at the grocery store at 4, and I’ll walk you over!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pete, this is an </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful </span>
  </em>
  <span>idea.” Joe stated, crossing his arms. “You’re falling too far into this and I’m telling you, this is not going to work out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete brushed it off as he continued playing with his hair in the mirror. “I’m just going for </span>
  <em>
    <span>dinner, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Joe. And to meet his family. It’s not a big deal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s a</span>
  <em>
    <span> big deal</span>
  </em>
  <span> is that you’ve turned into some fucking hippie with all this weird shit in the past 2 weeks.” Joe informed. “I’ve been telling you from the </span>
  <em>
    <span>start</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this isn’t going to turn out okay! You don’t know what his motivations are, and you’re letting him walk all over you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s not making me do </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Pete frowned, growing frustrated at his roommate. “He’s a little bit weird, but he’s doing it for a good reason! And it’s working! For him and for me! I haven’t felt better in months! You can’t tell me that I’d be happier the way that I was before I met him, because I was fucking miserable, Joe! I finally have, like, a plan! And I’m going to do things! And make a path for myself! You never fucking believed in me, so why the fuck are you getting angry when I finally find someone who does!?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe’s face fell. “Oh my </span>
  <em>
    <span>god</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>falling</span>
  </em>
  <span> for him.” Joe stated. “Pete, don’t let yourself become emotionally invested in this. He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>manipulating </span>
  </em>
  <span>you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut </span>
  <em>
    <span>up</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Pete spat back quickly, grabbing his jacket off of the sofa. “Is it wrong to want to be with someone who actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>cares</span>
  </em>
  <span> about me?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete, I fucking care about you, man!” Joe raised his voice, now, as the tensions were running high. “He’s the one who won’t let you buy another microwave because of all the ‘radiation’ or some shit! He fucking gives you</span>
  <em>
    <span> salt water </span>
  </em>
  <span>and you still don’t see anything weird about that?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s for clarity! And I can tell you </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span> fucking now, Joe, that I’m seeing </span>
  <em>
    <span>clearer </span>
  </em>
  <span>than I ever have before!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He walked right out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Joe called after him for a minute, but thankfully gave up on that and went back inside. Pete huffed and set off to the meeting place outside the grocery store.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>How dare Joe treat him like that? Pete had been working his ass off to help pay the rent, and on more than one occasion, had helped Joe cover his part as a thanks for helping him find accomodation on such short notice. But Joe was also the one who was dragging Pete down into this low-life of eating microwaved meals and doing nothing other than watch TV and play video games. There was so much more to life, and how </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare </span>
  </em>
  <span>Joe be mad at Patrick for trying to open his eyes so he could see it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was pleased to see Patrick when he finally arrived at the meeting place. They reunited with a hug, like they did every time they saw each other now, and Pete was so relieved to see his friend. Patrick gave such incredible hugs. He knew just the right strength to squeeze, the perfect duration, and he even </span>
  <em>
    <span>smelled </span>
  </em>
  <span>perfect. Pete still had no idea how he’d lucked out like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I missed you.” Patrick admitted when he finally pulled away from the hug. “It’s so good to see you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You too.” Pete grinned. “Even though it’s only been like, 4 hours.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick rolled his eyes. “You can always miss people when they’re apart from you. No matter how long. But what matters is that you’re here now, and that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete’s cheeks turned a soft pink, and Patrick laughed as he took his hand. They set off down the footpath, down a street that Pete hadn’t visited before. Oh well, it wouldn’t be a long walk. And just because this was a new place didn’t mean it was bad. Actually, compared to the rest of the neighbourhood that Pete lived in, it would probably be far better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Previously he would have scolded himself and told himself that he was a failure and a disappointment and didn’t belong in this part of town. But with Patrick by his side, he felt invincible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My roommate thinks you’re gonna try and get me to start selling some hippie shit.” Pete joked, starting a conversation. “I had a bit of a fight with him earlier. I know that it’s, like, bad to fight with people, and you should try and show them kindness, but he’s just like, dragging me down. It’s awful.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dragging you down?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He bought a </span>
  <em>
    <span>microwave.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Pete explained, and watched Patrick recoil in horror. “I’ve made him set it up outside, and I avoid it where I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s so amazing of you, Pete!” Patrick reassured, and Pete’s insides melted. “The radiation coming out of those things, well, it isn’t good. It poisons the food and the mind, it just leads people to unfulfilling lives where they chase bland, reheated food and dollars instead of purpose. I’m so glad you’re doing your best to stay away.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Me too.” Pete agreed, remembering how awful he felt after eating nothing but microwave popcorn for 3 meals the week before he met Patrick. “He won’t listen to me. I’ve been cooking for him, with the vegetables, and he’ll eat what I cook, but he doesn’t seem to be coming to the same conclusions that I am.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s a repressive person.” Patrick mumbled to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick looked up. “He’s, well, Just know that you should </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>feel bad for ignoring someone who is dragging you down. You’re showing him the light, and if he doesn’t want to make a change in his life when you are presenting him with the opportunities, then it’s not worth the trouble. Some people aren’t interested in growing. And you can’t get yourself tied down, or you’ll succumb to the same fate that they have. He doesn’t have your best interests at heart, Pete. He’s not worth your time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete nodded in understanding. “Yeah. It’s just hard when we live together. He gives me a hard time about the water every single day. Which is so stupid, considering that it’s helping me so much. My skin hasn’t been this clear in </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick laughed at that. “Yeah, it does wonders.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was actually a much longer walk than Pete was expecting, turning out to be about an hour and a half. The old Pete would have complained about this, about how tiring it was, about how Patrick had lied, but the New Pete didn’t mind. The new Pete loved spending time with his friend, and talking about all sorts of things. Pete did most of the talking, actually, but Patrick </span>
  <em>
    <span>listened. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Joe didn’t like to listen. Joe would either just shrug or make an “mmm” noise. Patrick </span>
  <em>
    <span>actively </span>
  </em>
  <span>listened, with an open mind, and would make him feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>heard. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“So this is the place!” Patrick announced eventually, stopping out the front of a large, Victorian-style home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was big. Bigger than the house Pete lived in with his parents, that was for sure, and it was very detailed and pretty and Pete was almost too intimidated to go inside. The red brick complimented the style very nicely, and the gardens were nicely treated too. There was a vegetable patch on the other side of the fence, and those big wrought-iron gates made for an incredibly dramatic entry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t seem to bother Patrick, who pulled a key out of his pocket, and led Pete inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The main door to the house was fancy too, and Pete dug his hands into his jacket pockets self-consciously. Sure, Patrick liked him, and he liked Patrick a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but the family was very much a big deal. What if they didn’t like him? What if he was weird to them and they wanted to make Patrick stop seeing him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick didn’t seem to be worried. He dropped his keys into a bowl at the front door, and called out to the hallway. “I’m home! I brought Pete for dinner!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh good!” Someone called back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-Is this a good idea?” Pete stammered quietly to his friend. “What if they don’t like me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pete. If I can see the good in you, and there’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of good in you, then I guarantee that they will too. Come on through, I’ll introduce you to everyone!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they walked down the corridor, Pete had to admire the detailing in the house. It had obviously been redone since it was originally built, but it was restored pretty much to how it would have been built during the Victorian era. There weren’t really a lot of updates, but that just added to the class of it all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It really felt like he’d been transported back in time. Even more so when Patrick led him into a lounge room of some sort that had no TV, or really no technology of any kind other than the lights and the grandfather clock in the corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The people were… just, chilling. Two of them had a game of chess going, and the others were just sitting around and talking. But all of them leapt up with smiles on their faces as Pete and Patrick entered the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete was used to Patrick’s hugs by now, but these people seemed to have no chill. He hardly had a chance to register what their names were between all the hugs and handshakes and affection. It wasn’t until Patrick laughed and actively pulled his relatives away from Pete that he could finally breathe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s so lovely to finally meet you!” One of them said. “I’m Frank. Thank you for coming for dinner!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete blushed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you for having me. I’m Pete.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick held Pete’s hand again. “So, this is some of my family. Frank here is my brother. Well, my foster brother, but we grew up together, so we’re pretty much as brothers as we can get. Then this is Mikey, and Ryan and Hayley! I think Sarah’s around here somewhere, but the rest of everyone is out tonight. You might meet them when they get home later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s so nice to meet you all.” Pete nodded, looking over at everyone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll give you a tour of the place!” Patrick suddenly grinned. “This way!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although Patrick’s spontaneous tour was unexpected, Pete was surprisingly glad to be away from all the prying eyes. Patrick took him upstairs first, up a grand staircase that Pete thought belonged in a movie somewhere, and down a hallway to a small room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is mine.” Patrick said. “It’s a bit empty, but it’s just temporary. I’m only here at the city house for a couple of weeks and then I think I’ll go back to the big house. It’s okay here, but I miss everyone else, y’know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete’s heart sank at the thought of Patrick leaving, but nodded in understanding. “Yeah. That’s okay. It’s cute though, I like it. You have an </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing </span>
  </em>
  <span>view of the city, dude!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah!” Patrick joined Pete at the window. “The lights make it hard to sleep a lot of the time, but it’s still nice to look at.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmmm.” Pete agreed. “So, how many people, like, live here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s just kinda, rotating.” Patrick shrugged. “There’s up to 15 at one time, but people come and go. The house belongs to my Dad, so whenever we want to come and stay in the city for a while, or have business or stuff to do here, we can come stay here for a little while. But most of us prefer the big house. It’s a lot nicer out there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If it was anything like this beautiful old house, Pete could hardly even picture what the ‘big house’ looked like.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry if my family freaked you out.” Patrick laughed. “Sometimes it’s weird to think that not everyone is used to hugs and stuff. We’re just like, really open here, y’know? It’s always a bit weird at first, but it’s nice after a while.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Pete agreed uncertainly. “They seem really nice though. But they all seem to know me? What do you tell them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick went pink at that. “Just, that I think you’re really cool. And I really like hanging out with you. Nothing </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.” Pete giggled. “That’s okay then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the house was still a little bit weird, but also very cool at the same time. There were a lot of rooms, and Pete could easily see himself getting lost in them. There were a few sunrooms, stacked with various games and trinkets and all sorts of things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One of them held all the water bottles Patrick had been handing out - a large pile probably running into the thousands. Pete didn’t get much of a look though, he’d only just react before Patrick would pull him into the next room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kitchen was probably one of the most interesting rooms in the house. There wasn’t anything electronic other than the lights, really. There was a big sink, where vegetables were being washed, and two big wood-fired stoves for cooking actual food. But no electric oven, no electric stovetop, or anything like that. It was a bit weird, but Patrick had talked a lot about his diet being very based on what humanity had eaten for thousands of years, and electric ovens definitely hadn’t been around that long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s all very, historical.” Pete noted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick shrugged. “It’s just, home to me, I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the time they had walked the house, Pete’s legs were aching and his stomach was screaming for some food. Thankfully, Patrick lead him down to the dining room, and sat him in the middle so he could be in the centre of conversation. Patrick sat to his left, and smiled when one of his siblings brought in the food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Old Pete probably wouldn’t even have looked at this thing. It was a salad bowl. A very pretty one at that. It had all sorts of vegetables in it, some that Pete couldn’t even name, but the spinach and broccoli and corn were noticeable enough that he knew it was edible. It was topped with roasted almonds, but they seemed to be the only thing in this bowl that had gone over the stove.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Real food.” Patrick smiled at him, taking a big bite as they started the meal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone else at the table seemed to be getting into it. Pete glanced around, wondering if there was meant to be a salad dressing or something that went over it, but apparently not. These people just ate weird, raw salad bowls. It wasn’t totally weird, obviously Pete knew that health crazy people existed, but it was weird to be having dinner with them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He poked it with his fork, and after Patrick gave him a bit of a weird look, he took the first bite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete tried. He <em>really</em> did. He wanted to be respectful and eat this stupid salad bowl, but all he could do once it touched his tongue was spit it straight back out. “That’s- that’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of salt!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The table went quiet, and Pete’s stomach sank. He quickly reached for the water in the middle, and took a sip to try and wash his mouth out. It was salty too, but the subtle kind of salty that he’d become accustomed to from the water bottles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my, Pete, I’m so sorry!” Patrick’s eyes went wide with realisation, and he swept the bowl back. “I’m- That was obviously too much for you to start with. Sorry, sometimes I just forget that, look, it doesn’t matter. Come through to the kitchen. I’ll make you one that’s better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The kitchen was quiet, and Patrick quickly puttered around to collect fresh vegetables and make a new bowl. Pete was still recovering from the shock value from what felt like eating an entire mouthful of pure salt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, so, you salt it like that on </span>
  <em>
    <span>purpose</span>
  </em>
  <span>? What did you mean when you said it was too much for me to </span>
  <em>
    <span>start with</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick sighed softly as he grated some carrot. “It’s… the salt draws out the impurities. It’s the city house, the soil isn’t pure here. When we eat, we just try and make sure that we’re getting rid of as many toxins as possible before we put it in our bodies. Sometimes it can be really hard to adjust to when you first eat it. I guess, I just haven’t really had anyone over before for dinner, and I forget that not everyone eats like us. Here, this should be a lot easier on the taste buds.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete blinked. “You literally, like, eat salad that’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>drenched </span>
  </em>
  <span>in salt, because you’re afraid of </span>
  <em>
    <span>toxins </span>
  </em>
  <span>in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>soil</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re in the middle of suburbia, Pete. There’s all sorts of awful things. Micro radiation and pesticides and dog pee and all sorts of awful things that you don’t want to put in your food. It’s important to grow as much natural food as you can, and this just helps to keep it as pure as it can be. But don’t worry, it’s keeping us healthy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know that salt is like, not-“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick cut him off by pushing a salt grinder filled with pink salt into his free hand. “Just do as much as you can handle. It will do wonders for you. Like the water and the clean eating have already helped. Try it, for me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete was stuck. Obviously he didn’t want to douse his salad in salt, but this wasn’t his house, nor was this his family’s dinner party. Also, the look in Patrick’s eyes. Well, he’d do pretty much whatever for this kid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Pete gulped. “I’ll do my best.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello!!!<br/>Thank you so much for reading my new fic!!! It just kind of came from nowhere but I guess that’s how my brain works, Lol. It comes up with a random idea and then it’s literally all I can focus on for 3 days, or until I get the first few thousand words out. I’m 9k in now and my brain doesn’t seem to want to shift it’s focus, so we’ll see how this pans out.<br/>I hope you’re enjoying it! I’m having a lot of fun planning out a lot of evil things and it’s coming along very well :). Thank you so much for reading, and please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is always welcome &lt;3.<br/>~SJ</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. There's a Whole World Out There</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Pete wasn’t actively </span>
  <em>
    <span>avoiding </span>
  </em>
  <span>Joe, he was just wasn’t actively </span>
  <em>
    <span>engaging </span>
  </em>
  <span>with him. It was easier that way. Joe was on his case about almost everything these days, which annoyed Pete a lot considering that he was actively trying to improve his life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And for the most part, it was improving. He had pretty much a second family now, in the form of Patrick’s siblings living at that big beautiful house. After that first dinner, Pete had gotten quite ill, but Patrick had assured him that this was normal, and this was good, and that this was his body finally starting to detox and get rid of all those nasty things inside of him that had built up over a life of bad diets and laziness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sure, he still was sick most nights, but it was going to be a long road to purity. He struggled with the salt sometimes, but Patrick was very understanding that it could be really hard to build it into a routine. He would let Pete decide, and always told him to only do as much as he could handle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was working. He had lost some of the chub that he’d put on since leaving college, and with the amount of walking that he was doing to go to the red house and back, he was starting to build up some muscle again too. It was really empowering to look in the mirror now, and see the real effects that his changes were having.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Joe made comments on it too, but even his </span>
  <em>
    <span>compliments </span>
  </em>
  <span>were filled with malice. Pete would be checking himself out in the mirror, now he was starting to look a little more buff, and Joe would fill the silence with something like “You look good, dude, but I don’t think it’s healthy to loose that much weight that fast…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete was also on the look for a new job now. A new job meant better pay and meant that he could finally afford a new place. Maybe somewhere closer to the red house, so he could hang around with his friends a lot more. And then he’d finally be able to get out of Joe’s negative orbit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete and Patrick were growing closer too. Sure, Patrick was close with everyone, and was no stranger to physical affection, but there were definitely some signs there that perhaps he was into Pete as well. Hand holding was one thing, but cuddling on the couch late into the evening was another thing. And there was absolutely no way that a goodbye kiss on the cheek was purely platonic, right? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete was hardly believing how fast he was falling for the kid. He wasn’t anything super to look at on first glance, but when you looked past the sideburns and the haircut that looked like he had cut it himself, and the oversized closed, he was probably the prettiest fucking person Pete had ever seen. And he wasn’t overly confident about it. The only thing he was confident about was how amazing Pete was, and Pete could hardly believe that this literal angel who had turned his life around thought so highly of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It just didn’t seem possible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it was, and Pete was enjoying every single minute of it. He’d go to the red house for dinner every day now, and the salad was really starting to grow on him. He used to hate salads because of the lack of flavour, but the salt really took care of that. And then the whole family would just, well, be </span>
  <em>
    <span>together. </span>
  </em>
  <span>They’d all chip in with the washing up, and then they would sit together in the lounge room and do all sorts of things. Pete had re-learned how to play chess, and checkers, and a couple of other simple board games. Sometimes someone would have a book, and they would read it out loud to the room, almost performing it. But the very best nights were the ones were they just sat around and talked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete had come to learn that some of these people had been welcomed into Patrick’s family as honourary members, instead of being born or adopted or fostered into it. Pete could understand why, the whole environment was so loving and beautiful and amazing that it would be ridiculous to </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>want to be a part. But they always had such interesting stories, and Pete loved listening to them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sarah had been an alcoholic, Pete had learned. She had grown up in a very unfortunate household with parents that had turned to the bottle, and as soon as she turned 15, had shared it with her. It wasn’t until a few years later, when she’d first been handed a familar bottle of water, that she realised how it managed to pretty much cure her hangover. A few days later she visited the red house, and now she was finally </span>
  <em>
    <span>living.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stories like these were everywhere. Mikey had been going through a rough divorce when he found the water, and when his ex-wife took all their friends and his kids, he found people who loved him and saw his worth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete hated how much he saw himself in these stories. He too, was lonely and desperate and at rock bottom when Patrick had swooped in and saved him. A deep part of him wanted to ask them how they were invited to come and join the family, so he could do it too. Pete could hardly imagine how amazing it would be to move into the red house, to be with all these amazing people and spend his days doing amazing things to help people. That was the dream.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t know how to make it happen though, and he certainly wasn’t about to ask. Sure, he was over here pretty much every day, but it was also clear that he was the outsider, just a friend of the family. Maybe if he just kept coming over, then they might ask him. Surely, with how close he was getting Patrick, they’d want him to stay, right?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was on one of his lunch break walks with Patrick when his dreams started to disappear in front of him. It was showing to be a pretty normal walk, Patrick swinging their hands back and forth, until he cleared his throat nervously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Pete?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmmm?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going home in a few days.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete was silent for a moment. “Like, back to…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The rest of my family, yeah.” Patrick explained softly. “We.... I’ve just been away too long. I’m slipping up and making bad decisions and it’s just… not good for me. And I need to go back anyway. I miss everyone so much. My Dad, and the kids, and my Aunties, and just, everyone, y’know? Like, if you think the family at the city house really loves each other, then just like, imagine that sixfold. And that would be the faction for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Pete gulped. “So, when would you be back?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, Pete. This isn’t my home. I… I probably won’t be back for a really, really long time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They walked silently for a minute or two while Pete processed that fact. What would he even do without Patrick? He wouldn’t have anyone to walk with, anyone to teach him about his eating and the world around him, and nobody to give him the love that he adored. There was no way that he would be able to continue his new lifestyle without the help of Patrick and the rest of his family.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete probably gave it a month before he sunk back into his terrible habits. He pictured Joe in his mind, sitting on the couch, eating processed food that made him sluggish, and wasting his days away with mindless TV and first person shooter games. Picturing himself in that position made him want to throw up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-Is it just you that’s going? Or is everyone going?” Pete asked quietly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Andy’s driving the van up. So, um, pretty much all of us are going and some new people are coming to stay at the house. I think Sarah’s staying, just because she’s not ready to go home yet, but the rest of us are heading home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. Right.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick pulled him aside, and looked up at him. “This isn’t because of you, Pete. This is as hard to me as it is to you. I just, I have to listen to my Dad. And I have things to do at home that probably needed to be done weeks ago. I really wasn’t meant to stay this long, but with you and I and everything, I just, I didn’t want to leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete just wanted to scream at him that he didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to leave. The house was still big and beautiful, and he could just tell his Dad that he wasn’t ready to leave either.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick groaned and rubbed his face in frustration. “I… I’ve been away too long. The world out here, well, it’s nice but it’s poisoning me. I just, I need to go home.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, yeah, that’s okay!” Pete assured, seeing how upset he was getting. “We can keep in touch, yeah? We’ll call and text and write letters and do all sorts of shit. It’ll be fine, and we’ll be fine. Maybe I could come and visit sometimes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.” Patrick mumbled. “Let’s just, let’s enjoy today and tomorrow. Can we do that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Pete had two options. The first was to convince Patrick to stay, but that was shaping up to be impossible, considering how many influences Patrick had that were dragging him back home. The second option was to pretty much beg to be allowed to go with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t like Pete had a lot to loose by leaving. His parents still hadn’t gotten in contact, Joe didn’t care about him, and his job was draining him of his will to live. He didn’t really have a lot of stuff, and didn’t really mind the thought of never seeing it again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t have any attachments here. The only attachment that he really had was Patrick, so that meant he had to follow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The next day, as soon as Pete saw his best friend, he couldn’t hold it back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Patrick, I… I need to come with you…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Patrick blinked. “Pete, we’ve got all today to hang out. We’re already together.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, no, </span>
  <em>
    <span>tomorrow. </span>
  </em>
  <span>When you go home.” Pete was sweating anxiously by now, and tried to hold himself together. “I… I don’t think I can do anything with you. I’ll just fall into my bad habits again, and I’ll just, I won’t ever be happy without you. I can’t stay here, not if you’re not here. So I… I need to come with you. Like how you said that there were other honourary members of your family...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick thought about it for a moment. “I… I’d have to talk to Dad but, I think, I think that would be okay…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick’s face turned very stern for a second. “It’s a big commitment though, Pete. It’s… it’s very strict out there, well, kind-of. It’s a very different way of life. It’s nothing like the outside world. It can break people, and not everyone who comes loves it. It’s a nice place, don’t get me wrong, but it can be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lot</span>
  </em>
  <span>…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t care about that.” Pete took Patrick’s hands. “It can be as weird as anything, but if it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>like the world of love you keep telling me about, then I’m there. I can’t stay here. I promise you, whatever it is, I can handle it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick thought about it, before smiling up at his friend. “Okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay? Is that a yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes.” He grinned. “I’ll talk to Dad and let him know you’re coming. But you gotta tie up your loose ends around here before we leave tomorrow, okay? Because we’re not coming back for a long time.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Joe was not as excited as Pete was about the move.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete was frantically packing now. Patrick had told him that they wouldn’t be leaving the red house until after dinner, but he planned to leave this apartment this morning and never look back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d done pretty much everything else he needed to do to leave. He’d sold his car, probably for a lot less than it was worth, but he needed to get rid of it. Then he’d handed in his resignation at the grocery store, effective immediately. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To be honest, he was very glad to get out of there. Even looking at all the processed food made him feel ill these days.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So now all he had to do was figure out what stuff he needed to take with him and what stuff he was going to leave here. His phone was one, and some clothes were another, but the rest of his stuff really didn’t matter all that much. Most of the furntiure wasn’t even his anyway, and all his personal objects didn’t hold meaning to the new Pete. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>God, he had so much to throw away. His soccer trophies, his books and stuff from college, and stuff he’d held onto since he was a kid. It just all seemed so useless now, to tie himself down with these trivial possessions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eventually, enough commotion summed a curious Joe, who leaned on the doorframe. “What are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leaving.” Pete stated matter-of-factly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Patrick, and I, we’re leaving. We’re going out to live with his family.” Pete told him. “And I’m packing. I leave tonight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Pete! What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>man?! You can’t, just, move out with this kid!” Joe spluttered in disbelief. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Please </span>
  </em>
  <span>tell me this is a joke!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you care?!” Pete spat. “It’s not your life!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s yours, though! And I fucking care about you, dude!” Joe retaliated. “You’re throwing everything away! And for what?! A weird ass kid who feeds you salt water?! You’re making a </span>
  <em>
    <span>big </span>
  </em>
  <span>mistake!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?! As soon as I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>happy </span>
  </em>
  <span>then everything I’m doing is </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong</span>
  </em>
  <span>?! You’re not one to talk!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not about happiness! Sure, he makes you happy now, but you’re blinded by your emotions and you’re falling into a really bad situation! I don’t want to find your body somewhere, dude! You don’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>these people, and you’re going to live with them?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fuck <em>off</em>, Joe.” Pete muttered. “Stop trying to hold me back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m trying to save your fucking life, dude. But whatever. Good luck.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was late when they all left the red house. They shared dinner together, and everyone packed up their stuff. Pete was glad he only had his backpack, because that was the extent of the stuff that pretty much everyone else had.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick didn’t even have that with him. He just had the clothes on his back and a hat in his hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They had a van. A man named Andy had driven it out to the house during the day, and had brought a bunch of new people to the house for a while. Pete didn’t really get a chance to talk to them, his group was still buzzing about leaving. The Andy guy seemed nice enough, even if he did pull Patrick aside for a while to talk, presumably about Pete.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But either way, he was on the bus, and he was out of here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sat next to Patrick in the back of the mini van, with Patrick taking the window and Pete sitting in the middle of the group, pretty much. He wasn’t sure how long of a drive it was going to be, so he figured that was for the best. He’d get to be in the middle of the conversation this way, and Patrick was right there, leaning on his shoulder to keep him warm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the most part, the conversations were nice. The others talked about people that they couldn’t wait to see, and jobs that they couldn’t wait to get back to. Sure, it was nice to hear them be so excited about seeing their loved ones, but it did make Pete a bit nervous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He had Patrick, but other than this group, he knew nobody. Everyone assured him that he’d be welcomed and loved, but that was going to take time, and he wasn’t sure how long. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, but there was still nothing from his parents on the outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick rested his head on Pete’s shoulder. “Put that away. We’re going to a new place. You’re going to love it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I guess I’m just nervous. I won’t know anybody.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It won’t take long to change that.” Patrick assured. “I might try and get some sleep. It’s a long drive. Will you wake me up when we get there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick shuffled under Pete’s arm and rested his head on Pete’s chest. “Thank you, for coming. I wanted to ask you, but I just, I didn’t want to ask too much to you. But you, well, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And I’m gonna make sure that you’re going to love it there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete nodded uncertainly. He was feeling quite nervous now, especially since they were out of the city and he couldn’t see where they were. But in the end, he had a sleeping Patrick in his lap, and was surrounded by some of the kindest people he’d ever met.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d be fine. Actually, he’d be better than fine. This was going to help him become the <em>best</em> person he’d ever been.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello!!!<br/>Thank you for all the love so far!! I'm having a blast writing this and I have so many things planned. Thank you for putting up with me and all this weirdness that my brain is spewing out.<br/>Please leave a comment! I love everything from constructive criticism to crazy theories, so please ramble all you want! It means the world to me &lt;3<br/>lots of love,<br/>SJ</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. What. The. Fuck.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Pete! Pete, we’re here!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His neck and his back and probably everything else was super stiff from spending the night in the van, but as he woke up to the early morning sun and a huge smile from Patrick, he couldn’t help but smile himself. “Here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh huh! Come on!” Patrick tugged on Pete’s arm, and Pete had to laugh as they both clambered out of the bus and into the sunlight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were in a desert, somewhere. It wasn’t too warm, but Pete put that out to it being sunrise, and knew the temperature would really start getting to them later. There was a huge, huge house about 200 yards away, probably the biggest Pete had ever seen, and there seemed to be more behind it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, come on, you guys have a detox to do.” Andy stood at the front of the group, Pete’s backpack on his arm. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine. We just have to spend a few days in the detox rooms, just to make sure that we aren’t bringing toxins back inside.” Patrick assured. “It’s a normal process. Nothing different to the city house, really.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Alrighty then.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete wondered what sort of toxins that they’d be bringing back here. I mean, they’d all been eating their pure food, and living in a generally pure way while at the red house. Surely there couldn’t be that much toxicity on them, right? But nobody else seemed to be questioning the procedure, so Pete put his head down and followed the group. They didn’t go into the main house, like Pete was expecting. It was a smaller house, a bit further away, and Andy handed everyone some clothes to get changed into before sending them to the showers. Pete hadn’t used shower stalls since college, and it was certainly weird to see him in a house like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the soap?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just use the scrub.” Patrick told him from the next stall over. “It’s the creamy looking stuff. It’s got rough cut salt, so it scrubs away all the dead skin. It’s actually so nice!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, that was weird. Pete looked at the small tub of scrub hanging from the shower wall, and gently grabbed a clump of it to use. It smelled okay, and he was pretty sure that he’d heard of salt scrubs before, so it should be okay. He rubbed it between his hands and it lathered up a little bit, and began rubbing it in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It definetely wasn’t as smooth as soap, or as nice smelling, but it did feel nice. Like a very fancy massage, almost. Patrick was singing quietly from the next stall over, so Pete just washed off and after a quick dry with a towel, looked at the clothes that Andy had handed him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were linen. Pete hadn’t worn linen since he was a kid and his Mom still made him go to church. It was a beigey-colour fabric, with an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts that fastened with a button. Pulling them both on was a very weird experience, especially compared to Pete’s usual tight cotton t-shirts. It felt weird, and loose, and unlike anything he had worn before. Especially considering that as he emerged from the shower stalls and glanced around at everyone else, they were all wearing the exact same thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What. The. Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look so good!” Patrick beamed, taking Pete’s hands in his own, before standing on his tip-toes to press a kiss to Pete’s cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to explain the process, or do you want me to do it?” Andy asked, glancing at the two of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can do it!” Patrick responded confidently. “Thanks, Andy. I’ll see you tomorrow?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andy left through the big door, and Pete finally took a look at the house that they were in. Well, it wasn’t really a house. It was a building with one big room and a big bathroom. There was a big lounge against one wall, and a bookshelf with a few games on it, like the ones they had been playing at the city house. There was a table with some chairs around it, and a rug on the tiled floor. The lighting was dim, with the only sources being a single bulb hanging from the roof, and a lamp on the side table next to the lounge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There weren’t any windows. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone else in the group didn’t seem to mind, and settled down to the various spots to chat and kill some time. Patrick noticed Pete starting to seem uneasy, and squeezed his hands reassuringly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry. It’s just the detox house, okay? The main house is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>pretty, Pete, you’re going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>love </span>
  </em>
  <span>it. This won’t take long.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, what was the process Andy was talking about?” Pete stammered nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, just the detox! Don’t worry, it’s nothing scary. It’s just taking some time to just detox and get rid of anything we might have picked up while we were away. Y’know, just a place to hang out before we go back inside. It’s 24 hours for me and everyone else, but it’ll be 72 for you because you’re new and that means that you won’t have the immunity that the rest of us do. But that’s okay! Pretty much everyone inside has done the 72 hours before, and it’s really not that hard. There’s plenty to do here, and it’ll be good!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, so you’ll leave after the first 24? Also, what are these clothes? And, I don’t want to be here by myself, Patrick!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You won’t be alone the whole time.” Patrick tried. “Andy will bring you food and he might talk to you a bit. He’s really nice, you’ll like him a lot once you get talking. I’ll try and see if I can come back down, but I have a lot of jobs so it depends. But don’t worry, you’ll be fine!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Pete seemed unconvinced, Patrick glanced away sadly. “Look, I mentioned it was hard here before we left. It’s okay if you don’t wanna go through with it. It’s not for everyone, like I said, and if you need to go home that’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, I want to be here!” Pete quickly reaffirmed. “I do. I’m.. I can do this. It’s not that long. And this place isn’t too bad. There’s no windows, but, but that’s okay.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patrick grinned, and hugged Pete tightly. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>you could do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There wasn’t a lot that Pete could say in response to that. He just hugged the other boy back tightly, and enjoyed the warmth of the embrace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-----</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first 24 hours wasn’t so bad. The first 24 hours was filled with cuddles on the couch, playing games with the group, and napping on these roll-out bed mats that Patrick had pulled out of the cupboard. Andy had brought them all down some dinner at one point, and overall, it hadn’t been too bad.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next 48 hours were the worst. Patrick had hugged him tightly and told him that he’d see him soon, and then disappeared. Now it was just Pete, sitting alone in a weird room with no airconditoning and praying that it would all be over soon.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And somehow, Patrick had forgotten to mention that this was some sort of fast as well. Andy had explained it when he’d come to bring Pete a salad on day two, that this was also to try and clean out his digestive tract of any leftover nasty stuff and make sure that he was as pure as he could be as he came into the main camp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So by the time that Andy came back, at the end of the three days in this torture room, Pete was not in the best way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The salads that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>been allowed to eat were drenched in salt, as per the usual now, and that meant that Pete had had some very bad sickness over the past few days. He was starving, and weak, and craved nothing more than a big warm breakfast and some human interaction. He was in so much pain, as well, and was hunched over as Andy opened the door, letting in the first natural light that Pete had seen in days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re all done.” Andy grinned. “You did really, really well. You really impressed me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-Thanks.” Pete mumbled, not really knowing what to say. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andy handed him a new set of clothes. “Here. Go shower and get dressed and I’ll show you around a little bit. If we make good time, we’ll be back for breakfast with everyone else.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete did as he was told. The shower was lovely, especially considering that the hot water was turned on today, and the new clothes were a bit better too. They were the same material and stuff as the other ones, but this set had been dyed a nice red colour. Pete didn’t feel too bad in them, and was glad to see that Andy had brought him some sandals as well for the walk back up. Food wasn’t too far away, he was almost salivating at the thought of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So there’s a few things that we have to go over.” Andy told him as they left the small place and began making their way up to the house. “It’s a bit weird to explain, but you’ll get it fairly quickly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” Pete mumbled. The walking was okay, it felt good to be outside, but his stomach was betraying him with how much it grumbled. Hopefully this wouldn’t take too long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, it’s kind of like it’s own society.” Andy explained. “And the point of this society is to find your essence, and find what makes you happiest, and give you the very best role so you can be the happiest you can be. Does that sound okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sounds great.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cool. So the only person that can find your place, is you, essentially. And every person here is on a journey to find their place. You’re a red shirt, which means that you’re still on that journey. Red shirts have a rotation, so they have jobs to do in the mean time while they try and find their place. You’ll get to try a little bit of everything, so you’ll really get a chance to see it all. People who wear yellow shirts are the ones who have found their place, and they’ll sometimes be on a rotation, but within the same area.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andy nodded. “Then there’s a few people like me, who have special jobs to help co-ordinate everything and keep it running smoothly. A little bit like a manager, I guess. We’re green shirts. So if you have any questions at all, then come to me first, and if you can’t find me, anyone else in green. I’m the red shirt co-ordinator, so my job is to look after you, help you get settled in, and find your rotations. Sounds good?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re my boss?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“More like your cool uncle.” Andy smiled. “Don’t worry. It sounds really strict, but it’s actually really nice. About 50% of the camp are red shirts, so you definetely won’t be alone. There’s 143 people in total. 72 red shirts, 44 yellow shirts, 5 green shirts, and 20 brown shirts, but the brown shirts are just the kids, and you don’t really need to worry about them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t matter. Pete had bigger things to worry about, like his stomach, and when he was going to see Patrick. Surely it couldn’t be too far away now. The main house was close now, and Pete could see the enormous building towering over them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s all going to be quite intimidating at first, but that’s normal, and pretty much everyone here has been in your position. People will welcome you, but you have to be willing to open up.” Andy told him. “This is what we call Big House. The ground floor is mostly just common space, with a big dining room on the end. 1st floor and second floor are accomodation rooms mostly, and Father lives in the attic. I’m on the 3rd floor if you ever need me. But come on through, I’ll bet your starving, hey?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s hit breakfast and I’ll show you more around after the morning meeting. This way!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete could smell the salt as soon as they entered the main dining room. It was absolutely busting - people </span>
  <em>
    <span>everywhere, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and giant bowls of salad sat in the middle of long, long tables, each seating about 30 people. Pete was glad to see that people weren’t sitting with their shirt colour, but instead it was all just a healthy mix. Everyone was wearing the same thing though, the linen outfit with the sandals in varying colours, and that was quite weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a lot about this that was quite weird, but Pete was too hungry to comprehend that at all. His head was light, his stomach was sore, but in the distance, he saw his friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can, Can I go-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See Patrick? Sure.” Andy smiled at his new recruit. “He told me lots about you. I’m very excited to start working with you. Head on over to his table, and he’ll get you something to eat. I’ll come find you after, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The colourful clothing was everywhere. Red and yellow and green and brown. But as Pete walked past the many tables down to the back corner, he couldn’t help but notice Patrick’s outfit. Sure, he was wearing the same outfit as everyone else, but it was dyed a brilliant royal blue colour.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But in the end it didn’t matter, because he was now in the best hug that he’d ever had.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He almost started tearing up with relief. Patrick just pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>missed </span>
  </em>
  <span>you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“M-Me too.” Pete stammered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let me get you something to eat.” Patrick smiled. “We’ll start you with the kids for the next few weeks, just while you adjust. Here, it’s really good this morning, you’re going to really love it!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pete had never been so glad to see a bowl of salad in his life. He was so hungry that he couldn’t even taste the salt in it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello again! Thank you for making it through another chapter!<br/>We finally have a glimpse into what my horrible brain vomited up one night! There's a lot of lore and weird stuff coming and I'm very excited! Any guesses? Please leave me comments I love them so much!!!<br/>Thank you again for reading, I appreciate you so much &lt;3<br/>- SJ</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. None of This Seems Real</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wowzers. It's been. Way too long since I updated this! Here's a quick recap if you don't want to go re-read it all.<br/>- Pete meets Patrick busking outside the grocery store where he works, and they get to know each other over salted water and nice walks to the creek.<br/>- Patrick takes Pete back to meet his weird family, and Pete realizes how much he wants genuine human connecting in his life. They eat salads.<br/>- Patrick tells Pete that they're going to move back to the 'Big House' with the rest of their family, and Pete freaks out and asks to go with them<br/>- They end up on a bus together going out to the commune, and Pete has to endure an awful 72 hour 'detox' to be allowed in, which was more of a fast than anything else.<br/>- They get assigned shirt colours based on their positions, and Pete is a common red, but for some reason, Patrick is the only one in the whole place wearing blue.</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The pounding hunger in his stomach had settled a little bit now that he’d eaten, but Pete certainly still wasn’t feeling his best. He wasn’t almost falling over in hunger anymore, but he also still very clearly felt the effects of the fast he’d just done.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick had sat with him while he ate, but Pete had hardly taken notice of him. He’d eaten as much as he could, and when he finally felt full, the dining room was mostly empty. He didn’t even have a chance to notice that Patrick had disappeared, when Andy appeared in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re going to be late for service.” He informed, like this was the most normal thing ever to say. “You need to put your bowl in the dishes trolley, and we need to run because being late on your first day is not a good look.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“O-Oh…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was full now, at least, as he followed Andy blindly. They walked out of the grand house, past some beautiful stained glass windows, past the veranda, and out onto the grass. It was weird, to be standing in the grass without shoes on. Andy had some sandals of some sort, but Pete, and a lot of other people around him, were just barefoot. He hadn’t been barefoot in the grass since he was a kid, and when they had a moment to stand still, he took advantage of the opportunity to dig his toes into the dirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the rest of this weird shit, as least this felt nice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wondered where Patrick had gone, and if he was even still here. He’d been so distracted with eating food that he hadn’t even noticed him leave. Guilt flooded his conscience, and he hung his head. He was so impure compared to everyone else here. Patrick had said that the 72 hour thing was easy and that everyone did it. If that was true, then why was he having so much trouble?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’d try harder. The purer he became, the happier he’d be.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“C’mon, quickly now.” Andy told him, walking towards a gazebo in the middle of the yard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The morning sun was starting to warm up a little now, and Andy pulled him into the gazebo. Handing Pete a small pillow from the bag at the entrance, they both headed in and sat on the ground, cross-legged on the pillows. More people were trickling in the entrance, and Pete took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Morning meeting, was what Andy had told him. Or had he said </span>
  <em>
    <span>service</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He glanced around for Patrick, but the smaller boy was nowhere to be seen. At least he saw Frank again though, wearing a yellow shirt, as he came in and sat down beside Pete. “You made it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Pete said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s so awesome! I’m so glad you made it. It’s a bit of a culture shock though, isn’t it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete was hesitant at first to say anything, but after glancing at Andy and making sure that he wasn’t about to get yelled at, he nodded. “It’s… a bit weird. Like the shirt colours and stuff. And this meeting, too. Does this happen every morning?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yep. Just after breakfast.” Frank nodded. “But this is actually one of the best parts of the day. It’s fun. Awsten will get up first, he’s the green shirt over there, and he’ll announce all the daily announcements or news that we need to hear, and then we’ll have a song or two, and then usually a red shirt or a brown shirt will get to do a reading, and then another song, and then all the red shirts will get their rotations for the day. It’s just a nice way to start the morning, with your whole family.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, okay.” Pete nodded, barely keeping up with everything. There was so much new information coming in, and he really wasn’t in the very best place to be absorbing it all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re doing fine, don’t worry. It’s a lot.” Frank chuckled. “Has Andy explained the rotations to you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just that, like, all the red shirts will do jobs until they find a place and become a yellow shirt?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that’s good! I work out in the animal pens, so if you get rotated to there, you can come and work out with me. There’s some others too, mainly the kitchen and the farming, but there’s a few other fun ones that you’ll get to try from time to time until you decide where you want to be permanently. But then again, I’m guessing you haven’t spoken to Father yet?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Father?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, not yet. You’ll meet him in the next few days. But anyway, it’s okay if you don’t know the words to the hymns just yet, you’re only new, but you’ll pick them up soon enough. Shh! Service is starting!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete directed his attention back to the front of the stage. True to Frank’s description, the man in the green shirt got up first and started talking about all sorts of things that Pete didn’t really understand. He talked about what crops were blooming and what everyone could expect for breakfast, about a new couple that had fallen pregnant (and were met with a huge, whooping, celebratory applause), and finally about who was summoned to see ‘Father’ today. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Andy, Gerard, Franklin and Ryan are summoned to see Father today.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Andy nodded, and looked down at his lap. Pete frowned. Patrick had talked about his Dad a lot, but it seemed everyone here looked up to the same father figure. Patrick had told him he fostered a lot of kids, but there was no way that everyone in this group was one of them? There were a lot of people here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was snapped out of his thoughts by a guitar strum, and quickly looked back to the stage. It was hard to see how, considering that most people sitting on the floor had started to sway rhythmically to the tune of the song. Pete gently swayed along with them, after all, he needed to fit in, and tried to grab a glimpse of who was singing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All he spotted was a blue shirt, but that was all the information he needed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick lead the song, and everyone else on the floor seemed to already know the words. Pete couldn’t really understand them, all the voices altogether made it a bit difficult, but he swayed along and just enjoyed it for what it was. Sure, it was a little bit strange, but it was also nice, to be dancing and singing with everyone else. Some people were more into it than others, singing a little louder and swaying a little more dramatically, but overall it was nice. And Patrick’s voice still made Pete’s insides turn to goo. How someone could sound that angelic was beyond him entirely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Patrick did 3 songs, and then Pete zoned out during the ‘reading’ or whatever it was. It was a story that some kid was reading from this old-looking book about a man and fishing and something or other, but Pete decided that it wasn’t too important and spent his time taking in the surroundings. The morning sun was lovely and warm, but the gazebo was beautiful. It was the type of white gazebo that every couple dreamed of having their wedding in, but it was decorated with beautiful, seasonal flowers, and crystals hanging from the roof, which cast beautiful shadows on the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was furthered with the beautiful sound of Patrick singing once again, and when the final song finished, Pete watched as the crowd shuffled up and away to begin their day. All the yellow shirts got up and headed out, and the kids left too. In all the haze, Pete lost sight of Patrick, and was disappointed when he couldn’t spot any blue in the sea of red and green that remained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright!” Andy stepped up to the stage, a few pieces of paper in his hands. “It’s harvest day, so a lot of you will be heading down to the farms to lend a hand! Be prompt and hopefully it should go over pretty quickly. Many hands make light work!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete listened dutifully to the positions being assigned. As Andy had suggested, most of them were being assigned to the farms, but there were other rotations too. Some were assigned to the kitchens, some to cleaning, some to creative spaces such as sewing, or painting, and some to childcare. He didn’t read out Pete’s name, presumably because he was new, and instead wandered down to him after.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do I have a rotation today?” Pete asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You need time to recover from the detox.” Andy chuckled. “I’ve got a job for you this morning, and then you can rest this afternoon. It’s Saturday tomorrow, which is the communal rest day, so hopefully by Sunday you’ll be right as rein to get to work. Anyway, I think the animal pens might need you. The egg collecting is always a fun morning job, and it might be a good opportunity to meet some people while I go see father.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Father.” Pete repeated. “People keep talking about him. Does </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone </span>
  </em>
  <span>call him that? Is he </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>Dad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Andy just responded with a wry smile, gesturing for Pete to follow as they headed out past the gazebo onto the land. There was another house, over in the distance, and fields of crops growing out into the distance. Andy walked him down to the animal pens, a large complex with seemingly hundreds of chickens, and some goats.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I ask you a question, before you go?” Pete asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Um, well, you explained all the shirt colours to me, but Patrick has a blue shirt, and he’s the </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>one who has a blue shirt, so, what does that mean? What’s his rotation?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Andy laughed. “Patrick works in childcare. He looks after the brown shirts, and his job is a lot more demanding than most rotations. He doesn’t get time off like the rest of the commune. Anyway, he’s not the only one with a blue shirt. You’ll learn more as you go. But anyway, I’ll see you in an hour or so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Pete nodded, his chest deflating. “I’ll see you then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>----</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tired, sore, and still hungry, Andy retrieved Pete from the animal pens and brought him to the Big House. He was given lunch with the others, some kind of salty soup thing, and then Andy lead him up to the first floor, to a large hall with lounges and rugs decorating the space.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can rest here.” He informed him, opening the storage in the closest stool. “The bed mats are in here if you wish to sleep. I’ll come and get you for dinner. Is that okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Pete nodded uncertainly. “Am I the only one here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For now, yes. Everyone will come once the day is over and dinner is finished. Thank you for listening and learning today. We are proud of you. Father can’t wait to meet you. I’ll see you soon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait, what?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Andy had already left, closing the door behind him. Pete sighed, taking the bed mat (which was essentially a glorified yoga mat, but he didn’t dare say that), and curling up in one of the darkest corners. He could sleep for now. Hopefully this weird world would make more sense when he woke up.</span>
</p>
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